Previous Exhibitions
This month ZIMMERMAN is pleased to present a selection of large oil paintings on canvas by Tony Rumball.
Exhibition images and a brief commentary are set out beneath the images below.
The inspirations behind Rumball’s paintings range from recollections of life as a dairy farmer in rural Taranaki, to sights and scenes encountered on travels in Europe.
Brushes with Bulls brings together two of Rumball’s enduring interests: animals and art. While dairy farming and painting are two very different careers, Rumball has embraced both with vigour and good-humour; his own “brushes with bulls” perhaps prompting this playful work.
Away from the farm and on sojourns overseas, Rumball has seized the opportunity to see many works by internationally acclaimed artists. Rumball’s painting Bathing After Hockney is inspired by a work by British pop artist David Hockney titled Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures). In Rumball’s rendition a third figure stands poolside – Rumball has painted himself into the famous scene, diligently keeping watch as the lifeguard.
Other works in this month’s exhibition are inspired by Rumball’s rambles through the European countryside.
The artist “can’t stop drawing” while travelling, and on returning home his notebook is a rich source of subject material for a number of paintings. Among the works inspired by such trips are In Europe and Rumball’s recollections of a bleak and blustery day Off Cornwall. The latter painting recalls a glimpse of the Royal Navy / Customs' tower in Cornwall and Saint Piran's flag (the flag of Cornwall, a black flag with a white cross, attributed to 5th century Cornish abbot Saint Piran).
Titles and dimensions of paintings in this month's exhibition (from left to right, in first exhibition image above):
Suburb, oil on canvas, 920 x 1220 mm
Brushes with Bulls, oil on canvas, 1220 x 920 mm
Bathing After Hockney, oil on canvas, 1000 x 1500 mm
Off Cornwall, oil on canvas, 1220 x 920 mm
Europe, oil on canvas, 910 x 1520 mm
Queen for a Day, oil on canvas, 1500 x 930 mm
Exhibition runs until Sunday 30 October 2022
